Tool "Welcome evening"

Language: English

Project Featuring This Tool: All Together

Themes:Other

This method can be adapted and used for any seminar run by our organisations. During the arriving the day the participants should make their own envelopes for receiving personal messages during the week. In the evening the team should organise some games for breaking the ice, getting to know each other and building a strong group.

Time 1 - 2 hours
Approximate number of participants 20 to 30
Age 15+
Date published 23 Feb 2010, 16:47

Materials

• Seminar room + maybe the lobby for the sitting together afterwards • Paper, scissors, glue, pens • Balloons + markers • 30 bingo print outs • 15 sheets of paper • Soft drinks, beer, wine, snacks

Setting

A room with enough space for 30 people

Step-by-step instructions

1. Envelopes

To fill the time between the arrival and the start of the welcome evening, the participants can make their own envelope. In this envelope they can receive personal messages over the whole week from other participants.

2. Balloon Game

Everyone gets a balloon and a marker has to blow the balloon and write their own name on the balloon. Then when the music is playing everyone has to let the balloon go to the air and try to keep all the balloons in the air. When the music stops playing everyone grabs a balloon – but not with their own name. At first time they have to find the person who’s name it is and try to draw his/her 1) nose. Then when the music starts playing again, cacth a balloon again and add 2) eyes, 3) lips 4) form of the face 5) hair. After the 6th musical break catch a full portrait find a person who’s portrait you have on the balloon and give the balloon twin to that person.

3. Name switching game

The group should mix and shake hands and present themselves to each other. But when they are shaking hands they have exchange their names. Then they have to find another partner and also shake hands and exchange names with them. That process is going on untill everyone has got their name back.

4. Human Bingo

To discover some funny characteristics or primary information about participants and learn their names, to create a nice atmosphere. Every participant receives a sheet where there is a table with different characteristics (e.g. Find a person who plays a guitar). They have to fill in the sheet, but cannot write in the same name twice. When all the squares are filled in the person who has them all has to shout “Bingo!!!”, then everyone together checks the answers, if they are correct.

5. Crocodile river

mark one bank of the river or tell people where is one bank of the river and where is another (e.g. from one wall to another or from the elevator to the window). Explain people that they are a big group travelling in the jungle and they suddenly come to the river which is full of crocodiles and they have to cross the river, because they have no more food supplies or fresh drinkable water so they have to cross the river. Tell them to split into 3 groups and give each group 6 pieces of paper (depending how big the river is). These pieces of paper are actually special material that does not sink, but the crocodiles eat it, when there is no weight on them (meaning if nobody stands on the paper – they lose it). So they have to come up with a strategy how to cross the river. Since they’ve been travelling for a long time without any food or water supplies left their time is very limited, so they have to come up with a strategy in 5 min. All teamers are needed for this one to be ”Crocodiles” – to take away the paper from the groups when there is noone standing on them.

Debriefing

What happened? Did you manage to cross the river? How did you decide your strategy? Was everyone involved in developing the strategy? What would you do differently next time?

Attached files